Theodore Nott and the Struggle for Freedom
by alternatending
Summary: The Loner, Theodore Nott is about to break all barriers that keep him from the one thing he truly wants. Freedom.
1. Chapter 1

The Slytherin Common Room was usually a fairly calm environment for Theodore Nott to bury himself in a book or converse quietly in the corner with those he considered friends. He didn't consider himself one of the more popular students at Hogwarts, or even in the house of Slytherin, but he was well respected, especially now that his father had been revealed as a death eater. Much like the more famous Draco Malfoy, the students residing in Slytherin have been regarding relatives of proclaimed Death Eaters in much higher authority now that the Dark Lord has revealed himself once more.

Although, Theodore, better known as Theo to his friends and followers, was not one to bask in the glory of the Dark side. He very much preferred to stay neutral in the whole situation, instead of taking full advantage of it, like Draco was doing. Theodore had always considered Draco a loyal, mutual, family friend, whom he felt was his equal, as a pure-blood and as a powerful wizard. Of course Draco could be a real jerk when he wants to be, he is extremely arrogant, unlike Theodore, who is quite humble and dislikes attention. Some people would call Theodore a loner, but most know better. He has many friends and fans alike, but enjoys being alone more often then not.

Theodore's father was in fact a death eater, and Theo had been a bit distant from the rest of the world since the murder of his mother 5 years ago. She was unjustly killed by an Auror in a very unlikely situation involving his father and 3 other death eaters. One of the Death Eater's present was Draco's father Lucius. No one had ever really given Theodore the details of his mother's murder, but he had hated his father for 5 years for bringing the entire situation down on her. Theodore's mother was a good person and she left quite a large, empty whole in Theodore's being.

Theodore was a simple looking young man. He was not very big, and he was not very tall. His hair was not a shocking silver/blonde, but a deep and endless black that curved around his face in wave less strands. His eyes were not a piercing exotic colour, but simply a whole black pupil, giving him a slightly mousy look. His eyes were always rather intense though, as though they were focusing on something more then the thing they were actually looking at. Theodore's skin was not a perfect pale shade that was sported by many of the Slytherin's, and he was not a bronze that many of the athletes had achieved over the summer, his skin was a colour somewhere between deathly pale and a warm tan. His body, wasn't tall and skinny like a lot of the students were becoming, it was in also in between. He was well built, but not necessarily tall; he was physically strong, but that mattered not to Theodore.

He was sitting on a worn down leather sofa, that should have been able to sit at least three people, except that he was stretching his legs over most of it. Theodore was simply wearing chosen pieces of his Slytherin uniform. The dress pants were slightly baggy over his legs, and his feet, which were covered with a pair of black socks, were otherwise bare. His shoes were tucked underneath the sofa, because his mother had taught him not to put shoes on furniture, another example of Theo's manners and proper upbringing. He was also wearing his white, button up dress shirt. The sleeves were unbuttoned and rolled up once or twice, the buttons were undone down past his collar bone and it was as neatly untucked as possible. He had a leather bound novel propped up in front of him and he had one of his muscularly defined arms wrapped around the hard cover.

His eyes glided automatically across the page, and he pulled it closer, squinting to make out the next line. The book had been printed quite a long time ago and the lettering, over many years, was beginning to smudge together, so that it was barely legible. Sighing in resignation, he closed the book, and set it down beside him, where it promptly vanished. He had put a rather useful spell on the book, so that it went back to his bedside table every time he put it down with no intention of picking it up again. This spell had its upsides, but sometimes when he put it down, absently thinking about something, else, the book would slip his mind for a moment and he would spend a few minutes searching for it before he remembered the spell.

He pushed himself out of his oddly contorted semi-sitting position so that he could sit properly on the sofa, leaning on the arm of it only slightly. He was incredibly comfortable, although rather annoyed by the small group of first years who were gabbling away halfway across the room. Now that Theodore was older, he really didn't have much compassion for the younger generation, they annoyed him greatly. These new-comers didn't have the same respect for authority that he had when he had entered Hogwarts. Trying his best to ignore the children, who seemed to be engaging in a wild reenactment of the last quidditch match, he turned his dark eyes towards the blazing fire in front of him. Over the noise of the common room, which was becoming more crowded every minute, he could hear the faint crackle of the magically burning wood in front of him. Every so often a spark would go dancing into the air and die almost immediately.

He felt his mind wander off into oblivion, resting momentarily on images or thoughts that were particularly interesting. His concentration on nothing was broken quite suddenly by a tall boy with flaxen hair sitting down deliberately hard on the sofa next to him. Snapping out of his thoughts, Theodore leaned back and looked at the young man; whose silver gray eyes were staring intensely at Theodore, as though he was upset that pleasantries had not been yet.

"Evening Draco," Theodore said, keeping eye contact with the young man, which was rather difficult, because Draco did blink quite a lot.

Draco nodded, apparently this greeting pleased him. "Hello Theo." Draco said. Theodore noticed that Draco had not used his full name, and took that to mean that this conversation was not as formal as it seemed.

In contrast to the rest of the room, Draco Malfoy was like the milky white moon hovering forebodingly in the sky. With his perfect, pale complexion, he was standing out quite obviously against the dark colouring of just about everything in the common room. Draco eyes darted away, towards the first years who were still talking loudly about something Theodore cared nothing about.

"How has your day been going?" Theodore asked, casually, leaning further back into the sofa and getting more comfortable. Theodore's day, of course, had been just like every other day this semester, and he doubted that tomorrow would be any different. Routine was a good thing for Theodore though; he was quite used to it, and felt more at home if he was on a tight schedule. Theodore knew that Draco wasn't going to ask how his day had been going though, because Draco didn't care much.

"The same as yesterday," Draco said offhandedly. He had broken eye contact with Theodore for a moment and his eyes were roaming around the common room with a hint of worry glinting in them, but it was hard to tell. When Draco's eyes snapped back to meet Theodore's, they were as blank as always. "Can we go somewhere more private?" Draco asked, the worry now lacing his usually cool voice. Anyone who didn't know Draco that well would have no idea he was probably squirming with anxiety inside, but Theodore knew.

Theodore's eyes suddenly grew darker, if that was possible, he felt his muscles tighten up involuntarily and he had to consciously relax them so that no one noticed he was tense. He leaned forward again, away from the back of the sofa, and stared at Draco, searching his eyes for any clue of what was so important that they had to talk in private about it. Then, Theodore found it, the tiny shimmer of fear that flickered though his gray eyes like a bolt of lightening through a thunder cloud. It was the Dark Lord. Theodore suppressed a shudder and nodded, only slightly. A wave of relief seemed to pass though both of them, knowing that they could count on each other when matters of Voldemort forced themselves into their lives.


	2. Chapter 2

Draco pushed himself off the couch, pressing his knuckles into the deep green leather of the sofa. His thin flesh turned white under the pressure and then flushed red. Draco flexed his fingers, staring at the red mark that had imprinted itself into his knuckles. The marks quickly vanished at the same time the dark mark gave a painful twinge. Both Draco and Theodore flinched minutely, and then met eyes. Now Theodore could see the more pronounced fear shining through Draco's eyes.

Theodore followed Draco's lead out of the common room and up into the dorm that they shared with Blaise Zabini, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. The three other boys were not in the room when Draco and Theodore entered, their footsteps were light and soundless and they took their seats across from each other, on their separate beds. They stared for a moment, each one not wanting to be the first to speak, but finally Draco Malfoy spoke up.

"You feel it too?" He said. It was not a question, but a statement in the form of a question. Draco knew dam well Theodore could feel it, and he hated Draco for knowing. Every time Theodore thought about the Dark Mark that was burning every moment of the day, his mind flashed back to images of the moment when he had received it.

_It was dark, very dark. The kind of dark that people wake up to and wonder where they could possibly be, even though, to their knowledge, they hadn't left the comfort of their beds. He should have been sleeping, since he was only 11 years old, but he wasn't. It was the day before he boarded the train to Hogwarts. His father had woken him up at a very late hour and pulled him out of his bed and into the silvery moonlight of his bedroom. His mother, who had still been alive at the time, was sitting in the corner sobbing silently and the young Theodore wondered wildly what had happened. Without a plausible explanation, his father grabbed his arm and pulled up the sleeve of the top he was wearing. _

"_You will thank me for this one day, son." Theodore's father had said, and his mother let out a sniffle, unseen from the corner of the room. Theodore could feel his father's long, cold fingers holding his arm steady, pressing his fingertips into the flesh. Quite suddenly, Theodore's father had a wand in the hand that was free and was pointing it directly at his son. Theodore let out a gasp in surprise, but not in fear, never in a thousand years could Theodore have fathomed his father might do something of this nature to him. _

_Theodore watched in horror as his father drew something elaborate in the air above his forearm. He only had a moment to contemplate what this movement could possibly be before his arm began to burn sharply, as though someone had pressed a hot iron to him. Theodore's father was watching him with a pleased look on his face, his job was done and released the young boy, who immediately collapsed onto the floor. Theodore made no sounds of pain, anguish or betrayal, but simply lay, curled on the floor, clutching his arm as the Dark Mark slowly imbedded itself into his skin. Theodore watched with wide, watering eyes as the lines searing slowly into his skin as easily as if he was drawing on it with ink, but this heart much, much more then the tip of a quill, even a particularly sharp one._

_His mother continued to cry, and when the pain had receded, Theodore stopped clutching his forearm in pain, and pulled his hand away. The amount of pressure that the young boy had been putting on his arm had left long, dark red prints across it, and in the center was the skull. It stared back unnervingly as the young Theodore examined it closely, knowing exactly where he had seen it before. The snake had curled itself around the skull, and was also staring with blank eyes back at the boy. _

"_Now, you can serve Voldemort at my side." Mr. Nott exclaimed to the boy, as though this was something Theodore would be interested in doing._

"_I serve no one." Theodore said calmly. Bold words coming from an eleven year old, who was completely under the wand of his father._

That night, Theodore was thrashed so violently by the hand of his father, that he had rough bruises on his face, arms and back the next day when boarding the train. That night had turned Theodore into the loner he was today, because he refused to speak to anyone who reminded him of his father, and for a very long time, he even ignored Draco, until he found out that the exact same thing happened to that young man as well, on the exact same night. Since then, Theodore has not looked his father in the eye, nor spoken down to him, from fear, not respect. But Mr. Nott did not see the difference between the two, none of the Slytherin's he had conversed with, and probably the rest of them had the exact same ideals.

"Yea, I feel it." Theodore replied to the question Draco had asked simply rhetorically.

Draco's eyes darkened, this was bad news. "Crabbe and Goyle feel it too." Draco explained, watching Theodore's expression; "Along with the Riley Macnair, Elizabeth Lestrange, and Erin Rosier."

Theodore was mildly surprised that Draco had been able to accurately pinpoint everyone in the school who had been exposed to the Dark Mark. He was also surprised to hear that Riley Macnair had been given the Dark Mark, since she had been sorted into Ravenclaw, and the only known death eater in her family was her elderly uncle Walden Macnair. Theodore simply had the impression that all Death Eater Spawn were confined into the Slytherin house, but he shrugged it off as house prejudice. Not only students from Slytherin had the opportunity to be tortured by family members who just happened to be servants of the Dark Lord.

"So what does this mean?" Theodore asked quite unnessecarily. He knew what was happening, but hearing it from Draco would confirm it much more then his imagination.

"The Dark Lord wants us." Draco said, in a low growl that could barely be considering a whisper. Draco's leapt with fear for a moment, in spoken realization, but it soon hardened into an expression that Theodore was used to.

Theodore took a sharp intake of breath and let it out slowly, his eyes locked on Draco. "What do we do about it?" Theodore asked.

"I think…" Draco began. This was a first, Draco actually thinking before he acted. "We have to help… each other." Draco said finally, sounding incredibly like the Potter child planning a rebellion.

"With who?" Theodore continued to pry, wanting to know what sort of plan Draco was cooking up in his sly mind. Of course, the question of "who" was brought up with Draco's sudden resemblance to Harry Potter and his little friends, who were always cooking up insane schemes to "make the world a better place" or something along those lines.

"With the-boy-who-lives and his idiot little friends," Draco replied coldly, each word dripping with loathing and sarcasm.

"Not funny at all Malfoy." Theodore told him, calling him by his last name. His eyes flickered dangerously in Theodore's direction. Theodore knew Draco hated his last name now more then ever because of its ties to his father and his family.

"With the other Death Eater Spawn," Draco informed Theodore after a moment's paused, "With Riley, Elizabeth and Erin."

Theodore nodded, apprehensively, realizing the atmosphere that had formed around the two boys was slightly less tense, and that the Dark Mark on his arm was no longer burning as intensely as it was when he entered the room with Draco. "What about Crabbe and Goyle?"

"They are too loyal to their families," Draco explained, "They would go running to their father's the moment they discovered our plans."

Theodore nodded in agreement, the pair of them were particularly thick headed, but they knew the different between loyalty and disloyalty. Theodore opened his mouth to ask Draco how he could possibly come up with a plan like this, let alone actually go through with it, but Draco interrupted him.

"I have everything worked out." Draco said, which was a surprise to Theodore because this was the first he had heard of it. "You just show up in the room of requirement at 10:00pm tomorrow night."

Theodore was a bit shocked by these sudden plans he had tomorrow night after his curfew, and to be spending this time with Draco Malfoy was a big leap from his usual activities. Theodore and Draco just did not spend time together, with the exception of these talks about their families and their relations.

Theodore managed to suppress all of his questions and nodded once again. Draco nodded back, as though this was a formal agreement and there would be hell to pay if Theodore did not show up. Draco then pushed himself off the bed he had seated himself on and exited the room, leaving Theodore alone with his thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

He basically just sat there, staring at a point on the door handle where the light glinted off the silver and reflected back at him. He couldn't understand what brought on Draco's sudden ambition to work avidly against his father, and all the death eaters for that matter. Theodore also couldn't understand how he convinced the other Spawn to join this little organization that Draco was suggesting, especially Riley Macnair, being a Ravenclaw who is not easily coaxed into rule breaking or fighting against evil overlords. Of course, that is assuming Draco even told them what was actually going to happen in the room of requirement tomorrow night, or if he had told them at all yet.

Theodore's mind wandered for the next little while with ideas and explanations, but each was less likely then the one before it. He eventually realized that he had to eventually go downstairs to retrieve the book he had been reading earlier. Finally abandoning his thought, Theodore got up off his bed and strode across the room; taking hold of the silver door knob and pulling the door open. He wandered down the stairs towards the common room and just happened to pass by the "popular" group of Slytherin's on the way. Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise were walking up the stairs, Blaise was chatting animatedly about something irrelevant, while Crabbe and Goyle laughed and Draco looked smug. Not caring what Blaise had to say, Theodore moved to one side and passed by them, letting them go to bed without interruption from the common room loner. They didn't say anything to him, but Draco and Theodore made eye contact for a brief moment, and the expression in Draco's face reflected their conversation.

Theodore entered the empty common room wondering what time it could be. Obviously Draco and his cronies were the last ones down here, because there was a right little mess around the fire consisting of a few burnt papers and several empty butter beer bottles. Theodore rolled his eyes and began to search the sofa he was sitting on and the surrounding area for his book. He was beginning to get a bit worried when he couldn't find the leather bound novel on or under the couch, and began to search the surrounding area, his eyes scanning over every inch of space his book might be laying.

There was a small giggle from behind him and he spun his heard around to look, being rather difficult, since he was on his hands and knee's looking under a small table. It was Erin Rosier, fellow Slytherin, fellow spawn of Death Eaters. Theodore got up off the floor and stood straight up, so he could see her better. The girl was curled up in one of the armchairs, with his book in her lap. She was flipping through the pages, not looking at him.

"This looks like an interesting book." She said, switching the gaze of her intense hazel eyes from the page of the book towards Theodore. He looked down at her, his head tilted curiously to one side, evaluating her carefully.

Erin Rosier, in Theodore's opinion, was a fairly pretty girl, with a shocking smile that hit you when you least expected it. Her brown hair cascaded over her shoulders in a would-be messy sort of way, but that's the way she nearly always wore it. Theodore had found himself staring at her hair absently in the great hall, instead of focusing on his dinner. It seemed to shimmer and the sunlight seemed to pick out the flecks of gold and red that ran through it. She had thin, pale skin that stretched over blue veins that were plainly visible in her bare arm that was wrapped around Theodore's book. She was a small girl compared to him, and was only tall enough to reach Theodore's chest, but she had a passion in her that could make him feel like he was 3 inches tall.

"I know," Theodore said, offhandedly, wanting very badly to snatch the book out of her hands and run upstairs to his dorm. Although, he wasn't too keen on going up there just yet with Draco and his cronies just settling into bed after a night of trouble-making. Blaise seemed to like testing Theodore's patience.

Erin closed the book with a small thud and admired the cover, which was very badly worn, although the gold, engraved calligraphy was still almost visible. She ran a few slender fingers over the rough leather, smiling absently to herself, then, her eyes snapped back on Theodore as though he had just walked into the room.

"How are you Theo?" She asked casually, still holding the book in her lap. Her fingers were tracing the indents in the cover absently as she stared at him.

"I'm well." He lied, his mind still lingering on his conversation with Draco and once again, the dull pain on his right forearm.

"What do you take me for?" She asked, shaking her head, and not breaking eye contact, "A fool?"

"Of course not," Theodore replied, raising only one eyebrow towards the girl, who was surveying him with interest, much like he looked at her discreetly in the great hall, or Defense Against The Dark Arts class.

"Then tell me the truth." She said, with a triumphant sort of grin, she wasn't smiling yet, not that brilliant, truly happy, sort of smile she had.

"Did you talk to Draco?" Theodore asked, trying desperately to change the subject. Theodore was no usually like this, but a mixture of fatigue and fear was making him slightly vulnerable to her eyes, which were penetrating his mind slowly, and if they were drills, it would be rather painful.

"Yes," She answered, nodding. Her hair shook slightly as she moved her head, and fell into her eyes. She shook it away with another toss of her head, and every strand on her head shifted into a different light. "What do you think of it?" She asked, her look demanding honesty.

"It's a bit sudden actually," Theodore said, trying to be as truthful as possible, which was rather hard because he wasn't exactly how he felt about the whole situation. "But a good idea…" he added, trailing off.

"I agree," She said, the corners of her mouth curling, ever so slightly, upward. "I'm not sure how Draco did it," She continued, "But he came up with a brilliant idea."

Theodore nodded, deciding finally to sit down on the couch next to Erin. He leant forward so he could still see her straight, the book, which was still resting in her lap, had completely fallen out of his mind.

"Draco can be rather smart when he wants to be," Theodore commented, "but usually he's just a prick."

Right then, Erin smiled, and giggled just a little bit. Theodore felt a sense of happiness flush over him, just for being able to bring this simple, yet brilliant smile to the face of the girl. He couldn't help but smile himself, if only just for an instant.

"Very true," Erin agreed, the smile not fading completely off her face just yet, "too bad he isn't smarter more often, maybe then he'd be able to beat Gryffindor at Quidditch."

Theodore smirked; he knew very well that being defeated by Potter was the one thing Draco Malfoy could not stand, and poking fun of that fact while Draco was not around brought a certain guilty happiness to Theodore. Although the two had their differences, such as opinions on how to treat a woman, Theodore still considered Draco a friend, but the boy was a huge prick, and there was no getting around that.

"That's a pity," Theodore agreed wholeheartedly.

The clock hanging over the fireplace began to toll midnight before Erin could come up with another brilliant insult about Draco.

"Well, I'd better be off then," She said smartly, sitting up readily in her seat. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow night." Then, she stood up, the ends of her cloak falling off the chair and swirling elegantly around her ankles. Carefully, she held the book out to Theodore, who accepted it graciously.

"Good night Erin." He said, nodding at her; as she spun around, and took off up to the girls dormitories.

He stood there motionless for a moment before the clock struck the quarter hour and snapped him out of his thoughts, staring off at the place where Erin had disappeared. He headed off to bed then, finding that the rest of his dormitory had fallen asleep, as he had expected. He changed quickly, after feeling the initial shock of exposing his bare skin to the cool air around him, and crawled into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.


	4. Chapter 4

Theodore woke up the next morning feeling unfulfilled. He didn't like this feeling much, because it made left him with an extremely empty inside, and he doubted very much that a good breakfast in the Great Hall would help much at all. Whether or not going to the Great Hall would cure his emptiness, he was so used to his morning routine that he didn't have a second thought until he had sat down at the Slytherin table. A few seats down from him was Draco Malfoy, who was incidentally trying to fight Pansy Parkinson off his lap, without actually hurting her. This was another usual occurrence in the morning, since Pansy was an extremely stubborn and spoiled girl who definitely was used to getting what she wanted; but Draco was equally, if not more stubborn than her, so it was rather entertaining to watch.

"What do you want today Parkinson?" Draco asked her, his tone laced with rudeness.

"Just you Draco," She replied, flashing him her brilliant smile. Pansy was an extremely good looking girl, and she knew it, which was why Theodore had never been interested in her at all. She had sat herself right in the center of Draco's lap, and had wrapped both her arms affectionately around her neck. Theodore could see her running a finger across the nape of Draco's neck absently, he eyes narrowed carefully with concentration and determinacy.

Draco paused for a moment to consider this offer, because he knew that Pansy was a very pretty girl, but it only took him a moment to wrap his arms around her waste and push her off of him with ease.

"No Pansy, I've already told you," He said "No." He raised his eyebrows at him threateningly, and Theodore wondered vaguely if there was something more going on there then he had originally suspected.

Pansy looked mildly annoyed, but she turned defiantly and left Draco alone, eventually joining a gaggle of girls at the end of the table. Every so often she shot a look at Draco though, but he was too caught up in his own conversation to notice, and it looked like she took offence to that. Theodore, however, had caught Draco's eye more then once, and they simply exchanged solemn glances, and then looked away as though it was awkward. Theodore thought it was awkward, he doubted that Draco even gave the glances half a thought before moving on to the next topics with his friends.

Friends were something that Theodore didn't have much of. He only had one really close friend who went by the name of Daphne Greengrass. She was actually a sweet girl, and acted very shy around crowds, resulting in her rarely talking in the great hall, even to Theodore. She was one of the only girls Theodore had talked to that didn't have a desperate crush on Draco, or anyone for that matter. Theodore enjoyed spending time with her just because she wasn't another mindless drone following everyone else into oblivion.

It was at that moment Daphne sat down right next to him, or at least that was when he noticed she was sitting next to him; she was very quiet and could have been sitting there for ten minutes for all Theodore knew. He smiled at her in greeting, not wanting to force her into conversation in the Great Hall like he had done on many occasions, all of which Daphne looked like she was uncomfortable beyond belief. She nodded and smiled back, showing a row of pearly teeth, then looked down at the empty plate in front of her, embarrassed for showing that much emotion in public.

When Daphne looked back up she was a bit red in the face, but otherwise completely blank of any of the emotions she had just flashed towards Theodore. She took a small glance around the rest of the table to see if anyone else was looking at her, but no one was and this didn't seem to be a surprise to Daphne, since most people just ignored the fact that she existed.

Theodore could see why most students didn't even notice that Daphne was alive. She was a very plain looking girl, and she was very, very shy. She had extremely dark red hair that fell in waves over her shoulder. But her hair was so dark that it appeared brown from a distance, making her blend with the rest of the students. She had shocking brown eyes that were the colour of very old liquor. She usually wore very plain clothes, when she wasn't wearing the Slytherin uniform. And even the uniform fitted her so perfectly that she completely blended into every aspect of any crowd.

Theodore thought the fact that Daphne blended in so much was a pity, because if someone actually took the time to admire her amazingly red hair, or her dark honey eyes, or even stopped to talk to her, and hear her interesting outlook on life, they might actually be a better person as a result. But since she was so good at being a chameleon, everyone simply ignored her like a brick in a wall, except for Theodore.

Daphne took great care in eating a muffin out of one of the wicker baskets sitting on the table. Theodore watched her intently, with thoughts going through his mind about her apparent plainness, although from the outside, he looked casual enough to not seem strange for staring at her.

Speaking of strange, two more girls sat down at the Slytherin table at that moment, one of them being Elizabeth Lestrange and the other being Erin. The two happened to be fairly close friends, and Theodore rarely saw one without the other. Elizabeth, who hated her given name and her surname with a passion, preferred to be called Liz, and anyone who didn't do so would be in the hospital wing with several muggle related injuries. Liz was a very shocking looking girl, with violently violet eyes that were sharp, and darted in Theodore's direction during a lapse in the conversation between herself and Erin. She also had very long, very straight black hair that reflected any light shone on it with such intensity, it was difficult to watch her for very long without sunglasses.

Liz was actually very pretty, even if she was one of the skinniest girls in Slytherin. Her uniform hung loose off her shoulders, and Theodore doubted she ate very much, because he never saw her take any food during meal times.

Theodore broke his stare from Daphne to nod a greeting at the two girls, who he would be seeing later that night at Draco's little Death Eater meeting, but right now, nothing had changed between them. Erin smiled widely at Theodore and waved in a friendly matter, while Liz stared at him with her vicious violet eyes and nodded back at him very formally.

Once everyone had been seated, Theodore noticed that Draco was looking increasingly more uncomfortable, and he left shortly after Erin and Liz had arrived. Theodore thought if Draco was this nervous around the Spawn of Death Eaters now, then exactly how does he expect to survive being in a room alone with them in less then a day. Theodore did the calculations in his mind and figured they would be meeting in 15 hours time. This seemed like such a long time, to do nothing but wait for 10:00, but Theodore really had nothing planned for this miserable Saturday.

Theodore decided that he would tell Daphne about the meeting, even though she wasn't a Death Eater. He trusted her enough to know that she wouldn't tell anyone, and that she wouldn't judge him at all for going to the meeting. That was the great thing about Daphne, Theodore thought, she is incapable of hating anyone, since she always seems to find the good in everyone she talks to; although, to be fair, Daphne hasn't exactly talked to a lot of people, and that's part of her charm. Theodore admired Daphne's ability to hold her temper when a group of Ravenclaw's walked by, and one of them knocked Daphne in the head with their book bag, completely unaware of her existence. She just took a deep breath and exchanged glances with Theodore concerning the rudeness of some of the students at this school.

Theodore and Daphne seemed to have this connection, where they could just look at each other and know exactly what they were thinking. This was an accomplishment, considering they had only known each other for a limited number of years, and Daphne hadn't talked much in that time. But the fact that she hadn't talked much may be part of the reason they could nearly read each other's mind. Theodore figured that he had spent so much time trying to read her expression, and find out what she was thinking without actually talking to her, that he somehow learned how to read the girl. This ability did come in handy, since Daphne was really very quiet.

Theodore took a moment to steal another glance at Erin who was having a very animated conversation with Liz. Liz wasn't looking at Erin though, she was looking at Theodore. He knew why. Everyone was acting very strange today, well, everyone who had the dark mark prickling on their fore arm. Theodore knew it was because of their little get together that night, but he didn't feel this day would be any different then all the ones before it, and was rather annoyed by everyone's sudden interest is staring at him.

Finally, Theodore became bored or annoyed enough to get up, and inform Daphne that he was going back to the common room to read. Being done her muffin, she silently insisted that she go with him. He would have preferred to be alone, but instead, let himself be pounded into submission without even flinching. Theodore wondered why he didn't have the power to say no, especially to Daphne. He simply had too much respect, or pity for her to deny her the things she wanted.

So the two of them got up from the table and headed for the door. Theodore took one last glance at Draco, who was glaring at him, almost accusingly for abandoning the Slytherin Prince, but Theodore didn't really care. If Draco was going to act like he could handle everything on his own, then Theodore was going to let him. Theodore held the door open politely for Daphne as she passed by him into the very empty entrance hall. He shut the door quietly behind him and followed her down into the dungeons, in silence. Once Theodore thought they were far enough away from everyone to not be heard, he took a moment to convince himself that telling Daphne about the Dark Mark was a good idea, then he stopped her.


	5. Chapter 5

"Can I talk to you?" He said, and felt mildly foolish about that afterwards, because it was quite obvious that the two were very alone, and the idea of talking wasn't so completely farfetched that it wouldn't even happen.

Daphne looked somewhat surprised that Theodore had spoken, but nodded apprehensively, not sure what this 'talking' would actually amount to. He didn't waste any time smiling warmly, instead he took a moment to decide whether he should risk talking about such sensitive material in the common room, or if he should pull her briskly into an empty classroom. Luckily, the decision was surprisingly made for him when Daphne grabbed the sleeve of his uniform and led him into the nearest classroom, which was quite obviously completely empty. She stepped in first and turned on her heel to face him as he shut the door carefully behind him. She had crossed her arms dramatically over her chest, expectantly, but also nervously, as though she expected him to do something unthinkably evil to her.

This thought, however, nearly made Theodore change his mind about telling her, if she didn't even trust him enough to be in the same room with him, what made him think for a second she would be able to accept the fact that he was a servant of the Dark Lord; but he cast all these thoughts aside, and decided to deal with the consequences at a later date.

"What is it Theodore?" She asked, speaking for the first time the entire morning. She could read his eyes quite clearly and could tell he was quite obviously worried about something, or possibly just anxious. Not even Theodore knew which of the two emotions was coursing through him, but either one was making him rather uncomfortable in his own skin at the moment.

"I was talking to Draco last night…" Theodore began, and paused as his Dark Mark gave his a small subtle reminder of the short leash he was tethered on. Daphne's eyes changed from curiously considerate to a darker expression of suspicion. Theodore shook his head minutely, trying to dispel her feelings of mistrust, but her expression didn't soften. "He told me about this meeting tonight, with other people like… me." He tried to express exactly what was happening, but did a miserable job of it, Theodore just didn't have a way with words at all.

"Like you?" She asked quietly, yet curiously and mildly confused as to what Theodore was getting at with this conversation.

"Yes…" Theodore said, inching his arm up his opposite sleeve, preparing to unleash the sight of the Dark Mark to Daphne, hoping that this would somehow accomplish whatever it was he had in mind. "People who are cursed… marked." He clarified, however vaguely.

"Marked?" She continued to ask, Theodore knew she understood what he was talking about, but still stared unbelieving at Theodore as though he was crazy and that when he lifted his sleeve it would be nothing but bare skin and blue veins.

"Yes Daphne, marked." He paused, "The Dark Mark."

Daphne took a moment to let this statement sink in; Theodore could tell that the wheels in her head were turning quite rapidly, trying to decide what to make of him. Theodore had a sickening feeling she would back up against the wall in fear for her life, but she didn't. Instead, she advanced on him, replacing Theodore's hand on his sleeve, and lifted in up gently.

She revealed it slowly, her eyes widening. Once Theodore's sleeve was entirely out of the way, and the entire mark was staring Daphne straight in the face, she ran her thumbs over the old wound.

"When…?" She asked, her eyes darting momentarily away from the mark to meet Theodore's eyes.

"The day before I met you," Theodore replied, looking over the top of her head at her fingers as she ran them over the image of the snake.

"You were so… young," Daphne pointed out sympathetically, still touching the mark as though her fingers could somehow wipe it off his skin.

"I know." Theodore replied, quite obviously. He wondered why Daphne wasn't as shocked as he thought she would be, but then he realized that his father's mention in the Daily Prophet as an infamous Death Eater probably gave it away completely. No wonder some students had suddenly decided he was a great subject to stare at during class or mealtimes. Everyone was curious to know whether or not Theodore's father had bestowed the mark upon him. Well the answer was definitely yes, but only a trusted number of people were ever going to know that for sure.

"And the meeting tonight…" She asked, her voice trailing off at the end, as though she wasn't exactly sure what to ask about it. She quite obviously didn't want to pry too deep into Theodore's life, but she was very curious about what exactly came with the curse of the mark.

"I think everyone who's been… Marked is going to be there." Theodore informed her, this was basically all the information he had. He took a moment to pause before he said 'Marked', because up until now, he had never officially assigned a word to the circumstances he had been forced under, but Marked seemed to sum it all up nicely, without sounding like he was willingly giving himself up to the Dark Lord. Submission was the last thing on Theodore's mind when it came to the Dark Lord, and that's why he was planning on attending this meeting tonight, so that he could do everything in his power to avoid submission to Voldemort.

"Do you think it's safe?" She asked her eyes wide in such a way that they nearly resembled Luna Lovegood's.

"I trust Draco about this." Theodore responded honestly. He truthfully believed that Draco wouldn't screw him on this one, although the consequences if Draco was planning on ratting them all out would be devastating, at least in Theodore's case.

Daphne snorted, expressing her opinion of Theodore's sudden lack of caution, or common sense for that matter. He narrowed his eyes at her, feeling the need to express his dislike for her mistrust in Theodore's intuition.

"The Words trust and Draco Malfoy should not be used in the same sentence." Daphne said, finally voicing her opinion after a series of silent expressions in an attempt do get the exact same point across.

"I think I know Draco better than you, and well enough to decide whether he is trustworthy or not." Theodore said, with a hint of attitude. He was actually slightly angry at her for voicing the exact thing that he had been hiding in the back of his mind for a while. What if he couldn't trust Draco? But the benefits outweighed the risk by a long shot, and to Theodore, it was worth it to test Draco's credibility.

Daphne didn't take kindly to this sentiment and raised her eyebrows threateningly at Theodore. "Well then, don't blame me when you're being cursed by your own father tonight!" She said, quite obviously upset.

Theodore's eyes flashed dangerously at Daphne, and she knew she had hit a nerve, because there was a hint of danger in the look on his face. Theodore has an extremely sensitive spot when it came to his father, especially when his past wrongdoings were brought up. Daphne knew this would upset him, and had only said it to prove a point, but realized once it had left her lips that it was definitely the wrong thing to say to Theodore Nott.

"No one is going to find out." Theodore said finally with gritted teeth. He could see the fear flickering through her eyes; she looked surprised at his tone of voice, and the colour his cheeks were turning. "I knew I shouldn't have told you." He lied. He didn't think that she would react this way at all, in all honestly, Theodore thought she was being more stuck up and stubborn than Draco was most of the time, and he hated her at that moment for being a hypocrite.

Taken aback for a moment, Daphne simply chose not to reply to Theodore, and left the room in a cloud of anger, which was apparent, even to Theodore, who was trapped inside his own blinding rage. Daphne closed the door overly loud behind her, and he didn't even turn around to make sure she was gone before slumping into a chair, and leaning his head against the wall. That conversation was more stressful then it was worth, but he was too emotionally drained to care about the consequences of his actions at that moment. He was so mad, and he had no where to vent his anger. In rage, he whipped out his wand and blasted a chair across the room into a million splinters.

There was a satisfied silence for a moment, then to Theodore's surprise, a quiet knock on the door.


	6. Chapter 6

He stared at the door handle for a moment, wondering if Daphne had come back to gloat on the fact that she had successfully made him loose his temper, but he knew she had much more pride than that.

"Yes?" Theodore said apprehensively, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade slicing through the flesh on one's forearm. Theodore felt a bit unnerved, as he should, his surroundings far from reflected his mood, and there was such a distance between him and reality that the character on the other side of the wooden door could have been a mile away and Theodore would have still felt as though they were intruding into his bubble of solitude. Putting that thought aside, the door opened and Erin Rosier walked in, looking as stunning as ever. Theodore was a bit embarrassed and tried not to look at the wrecked on the floor that was once a perfectly good chair.

"Are you alright?" She asked, taking a small step into the room and closing the door. She kept against the wall, as if she sensed his uneasiness about this intrusion, and perhaps Theodore's emotional state was much more obviously unstable then he had hoped.

Theodore nodded, trying to catch the breath he had lost somewhere between Daphne leaving and the chair exploding. "I'm fine." He lied, trying to look at her without the emotions pouring out of his eyes so transparently that he might as well be breaking down into a teary fit. He decided instead to look past her, near her feet. The hem of her cloak was swaying ever so slightly in his field of vision.

Erin was clearly not that gullible and took another step into the room towards Theodore. "You're lying." She said blatantly, although there was still a hint of caution and possibly compassion in her voice.

Theodore narrowed his eyes, wishing she would leave and give him the chance to smash more things before his rage subsided into a dull thumping in the back of his mind. He didn't say anything to her, since she knew she was right with or without his confirmation.

Erin crossed the remaining space between the two of them once she had realized that Theodore wasn't a threat to her at all in his state of mind. He was slowly giving up his hold on all the anger; without Daphne in the room, he really didn't have a reason to be mad anymore. He took a deep breath and looked up into her eyes once again.

"What happened?" She said, kneeling down next to the chair Theodore had collapsed in.

"Nothing important," Theodore said, hoping she wouldn't pry, hoping that she wouldn't insist he relive the entire event, considering it felt like a fresh burning scar in the back on his mind.

"You can tell me." She said softly, her eyes opened wide with more compassion then Theodore had expected from any Slytherin, let alone Erin Rosier, who was very well known for playing boys for suckers to further her own reputation.

Without even thinking about the consequences, or what she would possibly do to his measly little words, he explained what he had told Daphne, and how she had reacted in one breath. He spoke very quickly, and doubted that she even understood anything he had said. He didn't look at her as he spilled his story, he looked at the wall opposite her, but he knew she was listening intently, her eyes glued to the side of his head. Once his lips had closed, wishing he wouldn't have to ever repeat that mouthful again, he glanced at her. Realizing she wasn't in hysterics, he let himself turn his head fully around and watch her reaction carefully.

"You shouldn't have told her." Erin said, confirming his beliefs at that moment, "She doesn't understand." Her gaze was directed discreetly at Theodore's forearm. He followed her eyes and realized he had never rolled down his sleeves after exposing his secret the Daphne. The Dark mark was staring at him, bold and foreboding and evil. Before Theodore could react, Erin had her forefinger tracing the lines of the skull so skillfully; he was convinced she had done it a million times before on her own arm.

Slowly, and almost ceremoniously, Erin lifted her sleeve and let Theodore laid his eyes on her own Dark Mark. They were identical every way, except that the skin underlying Theodore's was dark, and worn from years of exposure to the elements and other nasty things, while Erin's skin was so thin and pale that the blue veins running beneath it were completely visible. They sat still for a moment, staring at each other, and the marks until Theodore's dark mark starting burning in an incredibly painful manner. Both Theodore are Erin shuddered, and Erin's hand automatically grabbed onto on of Theodore's hands and squeezed until the pain subsided, leaving them both breathless.

"Dammit," Theodore swore, pulling his own hand away from Erin's a bit awkwardly, and clasping it over his mark. "What the hell was that?" He asked, wondering why the hell the Dark Lord would decide to go into a fit of strong emotions at such a time.

"I don't know." Erin replied, pausing between each word, as though she was still trying to find the answer to the question as she spoke.

They remained silent for a while, so they could just think. Erin was still kneeling on the floor next to Theodore's chair, staring at the floor. A random thought crossed his mind as to why she wouldn't grab a seat, but maybe that thought hadn't crossed the girl's mind. Theodore wondered why he was so curious as to what was going on in Erin's head right at that moment. After the moment they had shared earlier due to their Marks, Theodore felt that it was right to assume that that was what she was pondering about.

After a few minutes, which seemed to last an eternity, Erin looked up from her thoughts to find Theodore watching her. She blushed a bit, but didn't say a word about it. Carefully, she lifted herself off the floor and met Theodore's eye. "I should go…" She said, hesitating for a second, her gaze watching Theodore's facial expression analytically. She made her way to the door, and Theodore stood up, pushing the chair loudly across the floor behind him. Erin turned back and gave Theodore a small smile before slipping out of the room and shutting the door with a click. Theodore contented himself by just standing there, watching the spot where the hem of her cloak had swished out of the room with a flick.


	7. Chapter 7

A few minutes later, Theodore left the room as well, and was going to head back to the common room, but decided against it, since Daphne was very likely waiting for him there to continue their argument. Instead, Theodore headed the opposite way, away from the dungeons, and up to the Entrance Hall, which was nearly swimming with students, all of whom didn't recognize him at all. Theodore heard a crash of thunder, and suddenly there was an increase in students wishing to run right into Theodore, or stop in front of him to stare at the ceiling while he tried his hardest to push his way to the front doors and leave the castle and the crowd completely. Finally, Theodore made it to the front door and without so much as a glance behind him; he slipped out them and into the fury of the rainstorm waiting outside.

The rain quickly soaked through Theodore's clothing, to his bare skin, which sprouted goose bumps immediately. He shivered, and considered going back inside, but the thought of battling his way through that crowd, and possibly running into Daphne was not inviting; so Theodore walked carefully down the stone steps in front of the school, his hair soaked to his forehead, and so wet that it's shade of black was almost darker than usual. He kept his head down, so the raindrops wouldn't strike his face as frequently, and he kept his eyes on the ground so he could see where he was going.

He made his way across the saturated grass of the Hogwart's grounds, towards the lake, where he found himself sitting under a certain willow tree in any kind of whether, rain or shine. It didn't occur to him that it was a foolish idea to sit under a rather tall tree in the middle of a thunderstorm, but Theodore had other things on his mind that had nothing to do with his own safety. He sat down, and the grass squished under him, but it's not like he could get any wetter than he already was. The tree above him gave him some cover from the rain, but not much, since the tree's branches and leaves were dripping upon him almost as much as the droplets from the sky.

Theodore's gaze was directed to the lake, which was being torpedoed by thousands of tiny raindrops. The surface of the lake, which was usually black and glassy, was currently disturbed with ripples that were overlapping and dispersing at incredibly speeds. There was a gust of wind that blew the branches from the willow he was sitting under into a fury of water and leaves, trashing overhead.

Flashes of lightening were striking the Forbidden Forest, illuminating the dark sky so suddenly, then leaving the retinas burnt and repeating the flash like a broken projector. Each flash was followed by a crack of thunder which shook the very roots of the tree he was leaning on. It was definitely the very center of the storm that he had stumbled into and Theodore felt as though he had entered nature's war zone.

It almost felt like a horror movie, a dark and stormy night, although it was barely morning yet. Theodore was so intrigued, it took him a while to notice that his hands and face were freezing and his robes were so wet, they were weighing down his shoulders like they were made of lead. Without a second thought, Theodore grabbed onto a low hanging tree branch and pulled himself up and that's when he saw a greater disturbance in the surface of the lake.

Off the shore, closer to the forest than the Theodore, there was a bobbing red head thrashing around in the waves. Theodore couldn't hear any cries for help, but he accounted that for the wind and the rain tearing through the atmosphere. Theodore didn't stop to think for even a moment. He threw off his cloak, with some difficulty and dived in. The water was freezing, and sent an initial shock through his body when he entered it. His breathe caught in his throat for a moment, and Theodore felt like he was going to drown as well, then he started to swim wildly towards the drowning victim, hoping their head wouldn't sink below the surface of the water. Theodore doubted if he had ever swum that fast in his entire life. He didn't have a thought in his head as he approached the red head, but as he got close, the body went limp and began to sink.

Theodore panicked and swam even faster, hoping he could grab her before she was too far down. In another flash of lightening, he could just barely see the crimson hair beneath the surface. Theodore took a deep breathe that contained more water than intended and dove down, he was nearly blind, but his grabbed desperately at the water beneath him until his fingers grasped something solid. It was an arm. Running out of oxygen, Theodore pulled the strangers arm upwards, without looking, or thinking. There was another flash of lightening that made Theodore's stomach clasp together in fear. He thought he would never break the surface of the water, with the dead weight in his arm, but he did.

Once again, without looking, he balanced the unconscious victim in one arm and paddled with the other towards the closest shore, which seemed increasingly far away. He prayed that the red head was still breathing, but he couldn't feel any movement under his forearm. Theodore's head kept bobbing under the surface, and every time it did, he got a mouthful of lake water, which wasn't pleasant. Finally, Theodore's feet, which were kicking furiously, hit solid ground, and he wasted no time dragging the unconscious body across the soaked grass and onto land.

Another flash of lightening revealed the victim as none other than Ginny Weasley, but this fact failed to register in Theodore's mind. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and pressed his fingers against her neck, waiting for a pulse. Thank the heavens; there was a steady beat beneath his fingertips. Theodore let out a sigh of relief that resulted in a cough. Was she breathing though? Theodore quickly pushed the red hair, which was now crimson with moisture, out of the girls freckled face and lowered his head towards hers, listening, and feeling for breath. Ginny wasn't breathing at all. Panicking, Theodore considered rushing towards the hospital wing; his eyes glanced quickly towards the dark outline of the castle which towered in the distance.

Once more, lightening flickered through the sky, illuminating the now pale face of the girl in front of him. Theodore vaguely remembered how to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but it was something he wasn't likely to be able to do right, since a muggle boy had taught it to him in 3rd grade, before his father had forbidden him to converse with muggles. Still in a state of panic, Theodore did what any wizard or witch in this situation would do, he pulled out the wand that was still safe in the pocket of his pants, pointed it at the girl and said "_Enervate_" as loudly as he could, childishly thinking that the spell wouldn't work if the girl couldn't hear him.

To Theodore's relief, Ginny Weasley's green eyes flew open and she rolled over and threw up in a coughing fit. Theodore sat there, feeling the panic ebb away, and watching the girl for signs of further injury or unconsciousness. Eventually, Ginny turned away from her coughing spree and looked surprised to see a soaking wet Theodore sitting at her side watching. She squinted through the dark, rain strewn space between them, searching his face for any sign of recognition, but he simply assumed that she really didn't know him, which would make sense to Theodore, because he really wasn't that well known, and they had never been formally introduced. For the sake of politeness, he was going to introduce himself at that moment, but the wind was howling too loudly for her to hear him anyways.

They sat there in the rain for a bit, while the Weasley girl caught her breath and focused her eyes, he had turned away from her for the sake of decency, because even though she was modestly dressed, the soaked fabric was clinging to every curve of her body making Theodore slightly uneasy. After a few minutes the heavy rain began to let up enough that they could probably hear each other if they opted to speak.

Theodore turned away from the tree truck he had been staring at to meet the apprehensive green eyes of a severely weakened Ginny Weasley. He blinked, his mind finally beginning to work, he should probably take her to the hospital wing immediately, but something about the look in her eyes made him stay stationary.

"Who are you?" She asked, audibly, as thunder rolled across the sky in the distance. The storm was moving away. Ginny's eyes searched him for a moment, taking in his disheveled appearance, from his matted black hair to the crumpled white uniform shirt, finally resting her gaze on Theodore's eyes.

"Theodore Nott." He explained, attempting a feeble smile and extended his water wrinkled hand to her, she accepted it.

"Ginny Weasley." She replied, and then lapsed into a coughing fit, pulling her hand away to clasp it over her thin pink lips. Theodore let his hand hover over her shoulder, hoping she wouldn't pass out, but ready to catch her if she did.

"Do you want to go to the hospital wing?" Theodore asked, once she had ceased coughing.

Her eyes sprang open into wide green orbs, but then settled into a reluctantly acceptant expression as she nodded slowly, her hand holding tight to the collar of her cloak.

Theodore stood up and extending his arm to her, she grabbed it, and with some trouble helped herself up. They had only taken a few steps in the direction of the castle, when Ginny's knee's buckled and she fell again, ripping the fabric of Theodore's shirt, but he didn't pay any mind to that. The muscles in his arm tightened as he tried to hold her up and help her up at the same time.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, as she leaned against his shoulder gasping for breathe, with her eyes closed tightly against the possibility of a blackout.

It took her a moment to answer, as if the words traveled slowly through the thick, damp air between his mouth and her ears. She separated her lips to speak, but no words came out, and she simply gaped at Theodore's arm and then passed out on the drooping, water saturated grass. Theodore stood shocked for a moment, and then looked down at his own arm, where she had torn his sleeve. The dark mark that was etched into his forearm was staring back at him, clear as day. Well, not this day, Theodore thought grimly, pulling the shreds of his sleeve over the mark just in case.

He knelt down next to the body, and with more tenderness than he thought he had, he lifted the young girl up. Her wet garments made her lighter than Theodore expected, and she was much, much warmer than Theodore could have imagined. With much care, Theodore balanced the warm weight between both him arms and headed towards the school, just as the rain settled down to a dreary drizzle.


End file.
